China Journal Wrap: IPOs on the Horizon, Chinese Investors to Buy into NBA Team

• The return of the mainland IPO: China’s securities regulator has issued a draft of new IPO rules for public comment, a signal that new listings are on the horizon after a hiatus since September.

• A Chinese investment group plans to take a minority stake in the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, a deal that could have some implications for the team’s star player, Lebron James, whose contract with the Cavs is up next year.

• PetroChina plans to buy a $1 billion stake in a Singaporean oil refiner and is expected to make an offer for the entire company, in a move that highlights the Chinese oil giant’s willingness to take full control of overseas assets. Chinese shares ended higher on the news.

• U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi toured the financial center of Shanghai in the first stop of her China visit. The longtime critic of Beijing did not make any public statements on human rights or the upcoming Tiananmen anniversary.

• The U.S. has asked China to help its ally Pakistancounter a growing militant threat in the country.

• China’s massive South-North Water Transfer Project, aimed at getting water from the rainy south to the parched north, will require the relocation of 330,000 people in one province. This year, the Yellow River, north China’s main waterway, has a third less water than usual.

• Shanghai police detained10 men in connection with Friday’s gang gun battle that left two dead.

• The case of official-stabbing beautician Deng Yujia takes a strange turn, with local officials announcing that her pro-bono lawyers had been dismissed for “incompetence,” a charge the lawyers contest.

• A look at the younger generation of Chinese artists, who shun politics in favor of documenting their inner lives.
–Sky Canaves

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